Friday 13th is superstition trifecta

Full moon and solar flare both occur on Friday 13th

June 12, 2014

Several large solar flares have erupted from the surface of the sun this week, and now the radiation is swirling its way toward Earth.

This coming Friday the 13th not only comes with a full moon for the first time since October of 2000. The next one won’t happen until August of 2049, according to NASA. It’s also accompanied by a massive solar eruption that could disrupt global communication.

Astronomers have witnessed 3 extremely violent solar flares in recent days, each powerful blast of radiation was enough to cause brief disruptions in high frequency communications. One of the flares caused a “coronal mass ejection.” says NASA; a highly charged plasma could that could come into contact with Earth’s atmosphere on Friday.

Some of the waves of radiation already collided with Earth earlier this week in the immediate aftermath of the flares. In each case, radio communication was knocked out for about an hour on the side of the Earth facing the sun.

All three of the solar flares that erupted this week were caught on camera by NASA. All three were X-class, the largest variety.

A coronal mass ejection occurs when plasma and intensely charged particles leap from the surface of the sun into space, forming a cloud and creating a particularly violent solar storm. Coronal mass ejections can seriously disrupt communication systems and even knock out power grids on Earth.

But the CME-based solar storm expected to hit Friday is predicted to be minor-currently categorized as a FI, the puniest kind- and may not cause any problems at all.

But for some, it’s still a superstition trifecta… the full moon rising on Friday the 13th, the very same day a solar flare could send a shockwave to Earth’s surface. It’s a triple whammy for superstitious folks, according to Stuart Vyse, a psychology professor at Connecticut College.